Limbo
by Eternal Enchanting
Summary: What happens after the end of the anime? The SPR tackle new cases, that's what! Join Mai, Naru, and our other favorite ghost hunters as they investigate hauntings, exercise spirits, and protect the resident danger magnet. MaixNaru
1. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 1

**Heeelllllllooo everyone~! I've wanted to do a long Ghost Hunt story for a while, and I finally sat down to write it! Please review and enjoy!**

~Case 1 - A Mother's Love - Part 1~

Mai's eyes snapped open with a gasp. She looked up at the onmyouji who sat across from her. He looked at her calmly and gave her a small, comforting smile. "What did you see, Mai?"

She glanced down at the diamond ring she had pinched between her slim fingers. "The owner was a woman. I think she was in her late 30's, but I'm not sure. She had a fight with her fiance and threw the ring at him before storming out. Because she was so angry she wasn't looking where she was going when she crossed the street. She walked straight into traffic."

Lin looked at her and tilted his head. "That's very good, Mai. I told you you'd be a natural. Good job."

Mai beamed. "Thanks. I'm glad I'm getting better," She held the ring out to him.

"You were never bad," He smiled at her. "And you can keep that. Madoka gave it to me to help you. She won't be expecting it back."

Mai gaped. "Are you sure? I think it's real. It's got to be worth a lot."

"I'm positive," Lin stood up and stuck a hand out to her.

She took it and jumped up. "Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around him before tensing, not sure if she was crossing a line. Lin just laughed and gave her a half-hug back.

Mai stepped back after a moment. "Well, time to do paperwork," She sang, slipping the ring onto her right middle finger. She gave Lin a wave as she left his office.

It had been almost 5 months since Naru had gotten out of the hospital. Which meant it had been almost 5 months since SPR had their last case. Naru kept insisting the cases were far too dull for him to waste his time on, but Mai was beginning to suspect he'd take any case because any ghost, no matter how boring, was more interesting than an office.

Although the office and office work were boring, Mai was getting along better with both Lin and Naru than she ever had. She was worried after the first couple weeks of not being on a case that the three of them constantly being together in such a small space would make her relationship with them even more strained that it already was. She was surprised and pleased to find it had the opposite effect.

Lin had been a bit more cordial to Mai after the Urado case, but she wouldn't go so far as to say they were "friends". Subsequently, Mai was dubious when Naru suggested that Lin work with Mai to try to develop her psychic abilities. Spending hours every day with a man she was fairly sure didn't like her sounded like an uncomfortable situation in general. Lin had agreed, though, so she went through with it.

The first couple sessions had been awkward and tense, but after a while they grew more comfortable around each other. They talked and laughed together, and Mai was sure that if she needed it, Lin would help her without hesitation. Mai thought of him as an uncle-figure or maybe even a father-figure.

And then there was Naru. The more time they spent together, the more Naru was willing to talk to her. They talked to each other before, of course, but this was more banter-like. More...friend-like. He teased her constantly, but there seemed to be a kinder tone behind it then there was before. Naru even came out and did his work in the main room with her on days when he didn't have too much to do. Mai smiled fondly.

"Naru?" Mai called as she rapped her knuckled against his office door. "Do you want some tea?"

There was a short pause before Naru opened his door to her. "Yes," He said with a handful of files in his hand.

"Okay," Mai turned and walked to the kitchen. She poked her head into Lin's office as she passed. "Tea, Lin?"

"Please," Mai nodded and closed the door. She glanced over her shoulder to see Naru right behind her.

She grabbed a teakettle and began filling it with water. "We have a client coming in today."

"I know. In about an hour, actually," Naru leaned against the counter next to her and flipped through a file.

"Are you going to take it?" Mai reached into the cupboard and grabbed two containers of tea. She held them out to him.

"Earl Grey. I don't know. The case seemed interesting on the phone, but then so have the others that have contacted us recently."

"Yeah, but anything's better than sitting in here all day," She complained, facing him while the water was boiling. Naru smirked.

"Are you implying that out company is unfavorable?" Mai rolled her eyes.

"I'm implying that you need to redecorate the office. It's the same solid color wall paper ever day."

"This is an office," Naru reminded. "Wallpaper with flowers on it would hardly be appropriate."

The teakettle whistled and Mai turned to finish the tea. "I'm not saying flowers!" Mai laughed. "Although I do have some pretty pictures at home..."

"Mai, if you come into this office and attempt to hang anything up on my walls, I will fire you on the spot," Naru warned. Mai heard the amusement in his voice and smiled.

"Yes sir, Mr. Big Bad Boss sir," She handed him his tea and saluted. Mai took a cup of tea in each hand.

Naru followed her as she walked to Lin's office to deliver the tea. "Earl Grey," She informed him. She was halfway out the door when the bell attached to the front door rang.

Mai flailed slightly. "They're too early! Um..." Mai eyed her cup of tea. After a second she trust it into Naru's hand. He struggled to balance the two cups and the files. "Hold this!" She told him before rushing to the front door.

"Hi, welcome to SPR. How can-Guys!" Mai yelled the last word when she saw who it was. She ran and threw her arms around Ayako and Monk.

"Hi Mai," Ayako smiled at her and pat her on the back. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, way too long!" Monk agreed. He stepped back and gave her a playful glare. "Why haven't you been calling us?"

"We haven't had any cases since the last one we went on together!" Mai defended as Naru walked into the room.

"Mai, I am not your table," He glared at her. He held out his files which had her tea sat on top of them.

"Sorry," She smiled apologetically and took the cup. She set it on the table. "I'll go get you guys some."

After everyone had their tea and were sitting comfortable on the couch, Naru looked at the two. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to find out why we haven't been contacted in forever!" Ayako scolded.

"Together?" Mai grinned.

The adults blushed lightly. "We were talking and when we found out neither of us had heard from you we decided to come see you," Monk said.

"So you haven't talked to Masako in 5 months?" Ayako asked, brushing off her embarrassment. "She must be in a tizzy."

Naru shrugged. "She'll get over it."

"We have a client coming today," Mai said, redirecting the conversation. She looked at the clock. "They should be here really soon."

"A perfect reason for you to leave," Naru added.

Monk waved a hand at Naru. "We aren't leaving. The client won't care that a couple extra people are hanging around."

Mai grinned happily as Naru opened his mouth to protest. Before he could, the door opened with a jingle.

"Um, is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" A middle-aged man asked. Mai stood up and gave him a brilliant smile.

"Yep! SPR for short. Are you Tai Oita?" He nodded and Mai led the man to the chair she had been sitting at and handed him a cup of tea. She went and informed Lin that the client was there before going and standing behind Naru.

"What seems to be going on in your house?" Naru asked once Lin arrived.

"My wife..." Tai began. "My wife Sei. _Something_ keeps attacking her."

Naru leaned forward. "What's happened?"

"It started small. Her hair kept being pulled, things were thrown at her when no one else was there. She felt hands lightly squeezing her throat. Not enough to choke her, just enough to be there. More than once she was playing with our children and something pushed her and locked her into a room alone. And then...yesterday she was pushed down the stairs. I caught her, but if I hadn't..." Tai looked up at Naru a desperate look on his face. "It's a very large staircase, Mr. Shibuya."

The room was silent for a moment, save Lin's rapid typing. "When did the activity start?" Naru asked.

"About a month after we bought the house so...three months ago, I believe."

Naru looked at the man for a few seconds, thinking. "We'll take the case. Expect us at your house around 5 pm tomorrow. We will need at least 3 rooms-2 to sleep in and one for our base."

Tai stood up and shook Naru's hand. "Thank you so much!"

The group in the main office were quiet while Mai led Tai out the door. As soon as the door closed, Mai, Monk, and Ayako jumped up and cheered. "Thank you!" Mai grinned widely. "It's been _so_ long!"

Naru shook his head at the three. "Mai, inform Yasuhara, Ms. Hara, and Father Brown that we have a case," He ordered, picking up his work and retreating to his office.

"You got it boss!"


	2. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 2

**Second chapter! Woot! Yeah! Thank you to those of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It makes me happy to know you enjoyed the first chapter :) Please review and enjoy!**

~Case 1 - A Mother's Love - Part 2~

_Mai sat up with a pained groan. She ached all over. She stretched her arms over her head and let out a silent gasp. Why was she covered in bruises? She looked around at the unfamiliar room. Where was she, anyway? _

"_I'm dreaming," She whispered to herself. Mai stood up. This was probably related to the case they were going on. "Better see what I can find out."_

_Her body flinched involuntarily as a door beneath her slammed shut. A deep feeling of dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. _

"_WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?" A shrill voice screamed downstairs. A feeling of panic that Mai knew didn't belong to her overcame her. The door to the room she was in burst open to reveal an angry, disheveled young woman. _

"_I-I feel asleep," Mai's body stuttered without her permission. "I'm sorry-"_

"_You're _sorry_," The woman snarled at her. She stomped over to her and gave her a backhand that sent her to the ground. "Sorry doesn't clean my house, does it?"_

_Mai clutched her cheek. She felt hot tears begin to slide down her cheeks."I didn't mean to. You didn't let me sleep last night, so I was tired and-"_

"_STOP MAKING EXCUSES!" The woman raged at her. She pointed a long, manicured finger at her and walked toward her, forcing Mai back until the back of her knees hit the chair she had previously been sitting in. Her teary eyes widened in fear. "I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR LAZY ASS TRYING TO BLAME ME FOR YOUR BEING A STUPID BASTARD THAT CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!"_

"_I'm...I'm sorry," Mai sobbed. "Mo-"_

"_DON'T YOU _DARE_ CALL ME THAT!" The woman lunged forward with that and wrapped her calloused hands around Mai's neck. _

"_S...stop!" Mai choked out, bringing her hands up to try to relieve the pressure on her neck. "Please..."_

"_Shut up," She growled, squeezing harder than she had before. Her long nails bit into Mai's neck._

_Mai's hands trying to pry the woman's hands from her neck grew limper the longer she couldn't breathe. Her vision blurred and grew dark. She dragged her eyes up to the woman's face, who, while her grip was still as tight as ever, had a twisted sort of happy expression on her face. "I love you," Mai did her best to mouth before she saw no more._

Mai shot up in bed, panting heavily as she clutched her neck. "God..." She muttered. Her throat burned. She rubbed it lightly, thinking she was imagining the pain from her dream. Mai glanced at the clock. "Oh! I'm going to be late!"

She jumped out of bed and hurriedly put on clothes. She ran her brush through her hair quickly. After she located her bag, glad she'd thought enough ahead to pack it the night before, Mai ran out of her house, hoping she didn't end up being too late.

Naru was leaning against the SPR van when she arrived. "Mai," Naru said as she ran up to him. "You're late."

"I know," She panted, doubled over while she caught her breath. "I woke...I woke up late," Mai took a deep breath and smiled at him when she straightened up.

"That's no excus-" Naru stopped suddenly and his eyes grew wide. Mai titled her head at him curiously.

"Naru? What's wrong?" Naru walked up to her and took her face into his hand. Her face flushed lightly as he tilted her head up.

"Mai, what happened to you?" He asked gently, eying her with concern. Mai's eyebrows creased.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong?"

Naru narrowed his eyes at her. "Your neck, Mai. What happened to your neck?" He touched her throat lightly. "It looks like you've been choked."

Mai widened her eyes. "What? Really?" Mai reached a hand up to her neck unconsciously. "I had a dream! That's why I was late. I had a dream and I..." Mai trailed off.

"You were choked in the dream," Naru finished for her. Mai nodded. She walked over to the van and bent so that her neck was visible in the rear-view mirror. She gasped when she was herself. Across her neck were dark blue and purple imprints encircling her neck. They were shaped like hands, petite womanly hands, and Mai even noticed the red cut marks made by the woman's fingernails.

"How..." Mai wondered aloud, almost lost for words.

"I'm not sure," Naru walked to the door of the office. He poked his head in. "Lin? Come here."

Lin walked out of the office, holding his laptop under one arm. "Are we leaving?"

Naru just gestured to Mai. Lin's eyes widened at the sight of her. "Mai, what happened?"

"She had a dream," Naru said for her. He spoke sharply and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

"A dream..." Lin examined her. "The dream affected your body? That's...you shouldn't be able to do that."

"What did I do?"

"You're astral projecting into your dreams. Before it was just your mind, but now you're projecting your physical body into the spirit's memories," Lin considered her for a second. "You're a strong psychic, but I never would have thought that you would be able to do something like this. Not without trying."

"Is it dangerous?" Naru asked.

Lin glanced over at him. "Not innately. It drains her power, or, at least, it should. If she were to project as a bystander to the memory, she'd be fine. It wouldn't physically affect her at all. But when she _is_ the person..." Lin pointed to her throat.

"Can I control it?" Mai asked him. Lin looked away.

"I don't know. You may be able to, but I wouldn't know how. I've never met anyone that did it without wanting to."

Mai pursed her lips in thought for a second before smiling at the two men. "Then I'll just have to figure it out for myself. It'll be okay. If I can do it, I can _not_ do it." At the very least, she figured she'd be fine as long as it happened on cased. Ayako would be around to take care of her that way.

Naru was dubious. "Mai, I think it'll be a little harder than-"

Mai shook her head. "You don't know that. Plus, there's not exactly much we can do other than have me do my best to keep it from happening. I didn't even get hurt that bad," Naru shot her a look. "I didn't die," She amended.

"Maybe she should sleep in the base during this case. So we can monitor her," Lin suggested. Naru considered this.

"That's a good idea," Naru agreed. Mai thrust her arms out in a "WTF" gesture.

"Don't I have any say in this?" She asked incredulously.

"Not really," Lin told her with a smile.

Mai pouted and opened the door to the van. She plopped down in the seat and slid over to make way for Naru. "No one listens to me at all," She informed him when he sat down next to her.

He ignored the statement and handed a paper to Lin instead. Mai threw up her hands. "This is where we're going," Naru said before sitting back and shooting Mai a smirk. "Sorry, did you say something?" She glared.

The three sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. "Mai," Naru said suddenly. "What happened in your dream?"

"Oh," Mai sat up and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry. I never told you, did I?" She relayed the dream to him. He rubbed his chin in thought.

"Who do you think the woman was?" He asked her. Mai bit her lip. She'd been thinking about that and didn't like the answer she'd come up with.

"I think she was the person's mother," She said sadly. Naru nodded. He gave her a guarded look.

"Are you okay?" Mai looked up in surprise at his gentle tone. He seemed to be using it a lot more lately. She wondered why.

"Yeah," She said, giving him a big smile. "Thanks,"

"We're here," Lin said, breaking the moment. Mai turned and peered out the window, pumping her fist.

"Everyone's here!" She exclaimed happily. It excited her to no end to know she was going to see her surrogate family again. Mai jumped out of the car. "John! Yasu!" She ran to the two boys and hugged them. Yasu laughed and John smiled. They each put an arm around her to hug her back.

"Hi Mai," John said in his thick accent.

"Long time no see," Yasu grinned.

Mai grinned back. "Yeah. I'm so excited to see everyone. It's been so boring."

She stepped backward. "Okay, time to...what?" John and Yasu's smiles had faded. John touched his own throat with his hand as an indicator. "Oh, my neck."

Mai opened her mouth to explain what had happened before Ayako cut her off. "Mai! Oh my god, what happened?" She ran over and examined the bruises. She let go and glared. "Who did that? It wasn't there yesterday!" Ayako glanced over Mai's shoulder at Naru accusingly.

Naru raised an eyebrow. "I'm certain you're not insinuating that _I _hurt her."

Ayako's lips formed a thin line. "Did you?"

"Ayako!" Mai pushed Ayako back and began to protest, but Naru's voice overtook hers.

"I would never hurt Mai," He told her icily. He gave her a glare that made Mai wonder if looks _could_ in fact kill.

Ayako faltered. "I-It's alright," Mai said quickly, trying to calm everyone down. "I had a dream! That's how it happened!"

Monk looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Masako spoke up for the first time. "She astral projected into her dream," She said softly. Mai nodded vigorously at her, relieved that the focus was re-directed.

"What's that mean?" Yasu asked. Mai went through a quick run-down of what happened before she, Naru, and Lin had left SPR. Yasu, Monk, Ayako opened their mouths to ask questions but before anyone could, Naru crossed his arms and glared at the group.

"If I may remind you, we are on a case. We won't be doing any good standing in their front yard. You can discuss it later."

"Right, sorry," They all muttered and began to unpack the van.

"Mai," Naru called to her as she picked up a box. "Come with me to base."

She nodded. "Alright," She picked up a second box, stacked it on top of the first, and hurried over.

"Naru," Ayako caught Naru's attention with a soft voice. He sighed and turned to her apologetic face. "I'm sorry. I just panicked a bit. I know you'd never lay a hand on her."

He studied her with an unreadable expression for a second while Mai ran over.

Naru took a box from her. "Oh, thanks," She said. "You don't have to carry it for me, though," Naru shook his head with a small smirk.

He didn't say anything for a second. "We're going to drop these off first, then we're going to interview the family."

"Mkay," She hummed in agreement. "Why aren't you taking Lin instead of me?"

"Lin's stronger than you," Naru said simply. "And I'd like to get the interviews done as soon as possible. You have the ability to take notes, right?"

"Yes," Mai huffed. "I'm not incompetent."

"That's your opinion," Naru smirked at her. He reached the front door and stepped through, holding it open for her.

"Thanks," Mai walked through the threshold and immediately pressed a hand to her mouth. A sudden scent assaulted her, filling her windpipes. She bent over and started having a coughing fit, feeling like she was in the middle of a burning building. She choked on the non-existent smoke and felt her eyes watering.

"Mai?" Naru looked down at her curiously.

"Smoke," She hacked, struggling for breath. "Like a fire's smoke." She knew it wasn't real and fought to get rid of the sensation.

Naru set down the box and crouched beside her. He patted her on the back, unsure what else to do. She waved him off. Mai was still coughing, but was doing less of it as she regained control of her surroundings. "I'm sorry," She said, upset that she was causing a scene. "I'll be okay in a second," She straightened up and took a few deep breaths as the overbearing smell disappeared.

Tai walked up to them with a smile on his face. "Hi! I'm glad you made it so early. Do you need anything?" Naru stood and picked up his box.

"Yes, actually. Could you show us to the base?" The man nodded enthusiastically.

"Certainly, Mr. Shibuya. Please follow me."

Mai and Naru followed Tai up a long flight of stairs into a large room furnished with three large couches and four big shelf computer tables. Way more than they were used to getting on an investigation. "I hope the room is satisfactory," Tai smiled.

"It is," Naru said, taking Mai's box and setting it down on a table.

"Your rooms are just down the hall. The last two. Anything else before I go?" Tai asked.

"Please tell your wife and children to come here so we can interview them."

"Sure," Tai closed the door softly behind him as he left.

"What was that?" Naru asked as soon as the door closed.

"As soon as I walked in, it just felt like the whole house was on fire," Mai began unpacking the boxes. "It's gone now, though." Naru rested his chin on his hands.

"I'll have Yasu investigate anything that has to do with fire when everything is set up," He said, more to himself than her.

The door to the room opened with a creak. In the open doorway stood a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair and a kind smile. Behind her stood two small children. A boy and a girl (obviously twins) who looked six at most. They had the same dirty blonde hair color as the woman and hid timidly behind the woman's legs.

"Hi," Mai immediately crouched and gave them a sweet smile. She loved children. She squealed mentally at how cute they were. "I'm Mai. Who are you?"

The boy and girl glanced up at their mother who nodded at them. They came out from behind their mother's legs slightly. "I'm Misao," The little girl said shyly.

"I'm Hiro," The boy followed his sister's lead. "And this is our mommy," He added after a second.

"I'm Sei," The woman walked forward to give both Naru and Mai a handshake. "I'm assuming you're Kazuya Shibuya," She said.

"Correct. This is my assistant, Mai Taniyama," Mai stood to her full height and bowed politely at Sei.

"Do you want some candy?" Mai asked the kids. They nodded enthusiastically, all former shyness gone. Sei chuckled softly while Mai went to retrieve some lollipops from her bag.

"They're not hard to please," She smiled fondly. "My husband said you wanted to interview us?"

"Right," Naru gestured for her to sit on a couch. Her kids soon sat next to her, content smiles on their faces as they sucked on their sweet. Mai came to stand behind Naru, a notepad and pen in her hand. "Other than the incidents your husband informed us of-that is, hair pulling, pushing, being locked into room, and being nearly strangled-what have you experienced?"

Sei tilted her head, thinking. "I think that's it for the physical part."

Mai looked up. "Physical?"

Sei pursed her lips. "Something keeps whispering to me. No one else can hear it but me. It says the oddest things. 'I won't let you hurt them', 'I'll protect them' things like that."

Naru nodded. "Do you know who 'they' are?"

Sei shook her head. "I don't know. I can't think of anyone that someone would feel they have to protect them from me. Forget 'I couldn't hurt a fly', Mr. Shibuya, I couldn't even scold one."

"What about your kids?" Naru asked while Mai scribbled away in the notepad. "Have they experienced anything?"

The twins were silent. They looked at each other briefly before coming to some sort of mental agreement. "Sometimes we hear a little boy," Misao said.

Sei looked surprised. Mai knew she must not have heard anything about this before. "He talks to you?" Naru asked.

"No," Hiro shook his head. "He doesn't talk to us. He talks to himself."

"Like when one of our toys gets knocked over without us doing it. He cries and whispers stuff to himself. We dunno what, though," Misao added.

"Did you see him?" Mai asked this time. They both shook their head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sei asked them.

Misao shrugged. "We didn't think it was important."

"Is that everything?" Sei looked at her children. They nodded.

"Yes, that's everything."

"Then thank you," Naru said, standing up. Mai handed him the notepad and he read through her notes. She beamed when he nodded approvingly.

"Our pleasure," The woman responded politely before shepherding her children out the door.

The door had hardly been closed 3 seconds before the door slammed open, revealing the team carrying the heavy equipment.

"That stairway is way too long," Monk panted, collapsing onto the couch.

"You said it," Ayako agreed, sitting down with a little more grace.

Masako looked at them and shook her head. "Disgraceful," She muttered behind her sleeve. She walked over and sat down on the couch Mai was currently inhabiting.

"Hi Masako," Mai said nicely, preparing herself for the scathing remark she knew was coming.

"Hi Mai," Masako replied, an odd sort of look on her face. It looked like a cross between embarrassment, shyness, and friendliness. "How have you been? It's been quite a long time."

Mai's eyebrows creased in confusion. Since when was Masako nice to her? "Yeah, it has been," Mai said, deciding she didn't care what caused Masako's sudden kindness. She was just going to be happy about it while it lasted. "I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good," Masako said, smiling a little more calmly than before.

"Miss Matsuzaki and Miss Hara, both of you go and take temperatures," Naru said loudly as plugged the monitors into the wall. Ayako sighed heavily while Masako nodded. "Mai and Monk, go set up cameras," Monk sidled over to Mai and ruffled her hair affectionately. "And Yasu, take John with you to find information," He handed the student a piece of paper. "This is the information we have so far."

"You got it!" Yasu said, flashing a grin over at the young priest. John gave Yasu a thumbs up.

Mai looked around the room contently as everyone set about their assigned jobs. She held a camera to her chest as she smiled fondly. It was good to be back.


	3. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 3

**Sorry it's been a while, guys. I got sick, then I had school stuff to do and it all just went to hell. But everything is good now! I hope you enjoy! Also, remember that every time you review, a kitten is snuggled. (Awww, snuggling! Review! Do it for the kittens!)**

~Case 1 - A Mother's Love - Part 3~

"Almost done," Mai sang as she and Monk finished hooking up another camera. Monk grinned.

"Only a couple more," He smiled. "It's a good thing, too. This house is bigger than it looks."

"There _are_ lots of rooms," She said with a sigh. They had been working for almost an hour already, and Mai was pretty over it. Ayako and Masako were probably done taking temperatures by now. At least Monk was there to keep her company. "Is the sound alright, Lin?"

"Yes," Lin's voice crackled over her walkie-talkie. Mai shot the camera a grin as she collected the microphones. Monk gathered up the remaining cameras.

"How many more rooms, Monk?" Mai asked as they headed toward the living room.

"After this one we're done," Monk told her. Mai pumped her fist.

"Good! I am so ready to go back!" She skipped down the hall, the mics clacking together with every jump.

"Careful," Monk laughed at her antics, trailing behind at a slower pace. "With your luck, you're going to fall. Or break something."

"You know what, Monk?" She giggled, turning around and putting her hands on her hips in an angry fashion. Monk snorted at her attempt to look fearsome. "I-"

"Miss Mai!" Two young voices cried out to her. Monk and Mai looked over curiously.

"Oh, hi Misao. Hi Hiro," Mai gave the kids a smile and crouched down as they ran up to her. They barreled into her, almost knocked her off balance.

"Hi Miss Mai," They shot twin grins at her and she took a moment to wonder how two people could be so totally in sync with how they acted. "We were looking for you!"

"Were you?" Mai asked, quirking an eyebrow over her shoulder at Monk. He shrugged, looking on curiously. "What do you need?"

"We need you to come play with us," Hiro told her. Misao nodded seriously next to him.

Mai looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry, guys, I can't play right now."

Misao and Hiro frowned. "But I thought we were friends," Hiro said. Misao's eyes started getting a little watery.

Mai melted. "Aw, no! We are!" She soothed quickly. "I just have to help my other friends first! We'll play later, I promise!"

"Really?" Mai nodded affirmatively. "Yay!" The twins launched themselves at her again, this time succeeding in knocking her off balance. She fell onto her butt with an 'Oof', taking them with her. They all started giggling.

"Alright," Mai chuckled after a moment. "You guys should go off. I'll see you later, I promise."

"Okay," They hummed happily. Turning with a wave they said "Bye, Miss Mai!" then ran off the way they came.

Mai looked after them fondly. Having almost forgotten she wasn't alone, she jumped when Monk put a hand on her head. "You're really good with kids," Monk observed with a soft smile. "They really love you."

"Yeah," Mai said, looking up at him. "I've just always been a kid person, I guess. I'm not sure why they like me so much."

"It's because you're so sweet," He cooed, bringing her to her feet and engulfing her in a bear hug. She laughed and patted him on the back, encouraging him to release his grip.

"Yeah, yeah," Mai brushed her clothes off. "We should finish before Naru comes to see what's taking so long."

Monk winced. "Man, he's gonna be mad. It's going to take a little while to get the camera set up and all the leftover equipment put away," Mai paused and tilted her head. "What's up, Mai?"

"We could just split up," She suggested. "I'll handle the last camera, you can put everything else away, and then we can meet up at base."

Monk hesitated. "I don't think that's such a good idea, kid."

"Why not?" Mai re-adjusted the mics against her shoulder. "It'll save time and a Naru-lecture."

"What if sometime happens?"

"We've only been here a couple hours," Mai dismissed with a wave of her free hand. "It'll be fine," She shooed him away. "Now go! C'mon! We'll meet up at base in like 10 minutes."

Monk tightened his grip on a camera briefly before sighing and relaxing. "Alright. Be careful, though."

"I will be!" She promised, switching some equipment with him before taking off into a slow jog into the living room, leaving him behind.

"This house is really nice," Mai thought aloud, trailing her fingers along the spines of some old books. The living room had big, elegant wooden bookcases completely lining one wall. Against the opposite wall there was a fireplace surrounded by some old chairs. With nothing else much in it save a few tables, it looked more like a reading room to her than anything. All the furniture looked aged. "I wonder if the furniture was passed down with the house..."

Shrugging at her own question, she set about hooking up the camera. She chose to place it in the far corner of the room where it would be able to view pretty much anything that happened. Mai set the camera up quickly, surprising herself. Normally it took her a bit of time to hook one up by herself because of all the wires. Grinning proudly to herself, she raised her arms above her head and stretched.

She glanced at the clock and wondered if Monk was done with his task yet. Deciding he probably was, she started for the door. If she hurried back, Naru might not throw such a hissy fit at their being late. Almost to the door, Mai stopped suddenly. She thought she felt someone touch her wrist. She looked around, already perfectly aware she wouldn't see anyone. Shaking her head, she tried to calm herself. It was just a light brush; she could have imagined it. But it felt like fingers to her. Mai took a deep breath. She concluded that getting out of the room would probably be the best idea. She took another step toward the door. Her hand was pushed slightly, absolutely by a hand this time. It seemed to go through her wrist, not quite solid yet at the same time solid enough to move her hand. The apparition collected it's mass and was able to firmly grasp her.

Mai gasped loudly at the contact. The hand yanked her back further into the room. Suddenly, the body-less hand had a hold of both of her wrists. They dragged her into the middle of the room, holding her arms above her head. Struggling, she attempted to free herself from the invisible assailant.

Apparently her plight didn't bother whatever was holding her in the slightest. It pushed her forward slightly, closer to the bookcases. When it was satisfied with the distance, it released her wrists and quickly switched to holding her shoulders. Giving a hard shove, it sent her to the ground.

Mai's head cracked against the solid wood flood of the living room. Dazed slightly, she assessed her situation. The ghost's hands held tight to her shoulders and she felt a weight on her body. Assuming the spirit was on her, she thrashed to try to get it off.

Every movement Mai was making stopped when a slow movement in front of her caught her eye. Her blood ran cold as the giant bookshelf before her began to rock. It moved back and forth, as if someone was pushing it. Tipping it.

She panicked, fighting against the invisible force holding her in place. Her mind raced as she tried to get up. How was she going to get up if the ghost wouldn't release her? Would one of her friends notice and come to save her? The camera was right over in the corner; surely someone would notice, right?

Suddenly, the bookcase was falling. The hands holding Mai disappeared in the same moment, giving her the ability to at least brace herself. As the object fell towards her, Mai opened her mouth and let out an ear-piercing scream.

**~Meanwhile~**

Naru scowled in silent frustration as Ayako and Masako entered the previously silent room. Ayako was in the middle of a conversation with Masako, who didn't look like she was completely happy with the situation either.

"Hiya ladies," Yasu perked up at the woman's arrival. "Done so soon?"

"Soon?" Ayako scoffed, sitting down on the couch and crossing one leg over the other. "We've been at it for over an hour."

"An hour to do temps?" Yasu raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"We had to re-check some of them because Ayako was using a broken thermometer," Masako said blandly from behind her sleeve.

Ayako glared. Suddenly, a mischievous smirk appeared on her face as an idea came to her. She leaned forward. "So, Masako," Ayako drawled. "I noticed you and Mai were very friendly earlier."

Masako pursed her lips, not quite sure she knew what the red-haired woman was going to do. "Yes..." She answered slowly. "I was friendly toward my friend. Is that odd?"

"Oh no, not at all," Ayako waved her hand dismiss-ably. "I just wasn't aware you and she were on friendly terms. What with your...rivalry and all."

The medium stiffened. Oh. "I feel nothing like rivalry towards Mai."

"Anymore?" Ayako questioned. The women were aware that everyone in base was listening to her. Yasu had put down his files and wasn't even trying to appear like he was working. His chin was in his hand and he was watching them eagerly. John and Lin kept trying to work while listening to them discreetly. Naru just sat there, staring at a piece of paper in his file.

"Yes, anymore. I've...moved on from it," Masako chose her words, trying to keep the details as private as she could. Ayako's eyes widened. She was just teasing Masako, thinking maybe she'd had some sort of moral epiphany while they hadn't seen each other. Had she really moved on from her crush on Naru?

"No way!" Ayako exclaimed, no longer patronizing.

"Way," Masako sighed at the woman's wide-eyed look.

"Who? Do we know him?" Ayako whispered so the men at the computers couldn't hear. At this the black-haired girl blushed a deep crimson and looked everywhere but at Ayako's face and the general area of where Yasu and John were sitting on a couch. Ayako looked at the two men analytically.

"Ahem," John cleared his throat, a light blush on his face. Having heard the discussion and felt Ayako's eyes on them, he wished to change the subject. "Mai and Monk are late, aren't they?"

"Slowpokes," Ayako muttered under her breath. "Don't worry about it. They probably just started goofing off. You know them."

"So you don't think something happened?" Yasu pushed his glasses further up his nose.

Ayako shook her head. "No. They're always like that, so it's expected. Plus, they're together. They should be safe.

In an amazing display of good timing, Monk walked through the door at that moment (Wow, you just can't write this stuff.). "I'm back!" He announced unnecessarily.

The room was quiet for a moment and Ayako began to rethink her words. "...Monk?" Yasu decided to be the one to ask the question. "Where's Mai?"

Monk looked around the room. "She's not here yet, then? We decided to split up to get everything done faster."

"You split up?" Naru looked up from his file. He put it down in front of him and turned to give Monk a glare. "Why did you both go off on your own?"

"It seemed like a good ide-" Monk began to defend themselves but Naru cut him off.

"It wasn't a good idea. I ask everyone to always go in pairs for a reason. Anything could happen," Naru's tone of voice was sharp and his glare matched it.

"C'mon, Naru, give him a break," Yasu tried to sooth the big boss. "Nothing's happened yet and-"

"But it's Mai," Naru reminded, bringing a hand up to massage his temple. "That girl is the biggest danger magnet I've ever met."

"She should be back any minute," Monk said meekly. Naru narrowed his eyes.

"She should be back now," Naru stood up and went for the door. Just as he reached out to grip the handle, a loud scream ripped through the air. The sound was closely followed by a loud bang.

"Mai!"

**Wow! A cliffhanger! I was about to not do a cliffhanger, but then I thought to myself-Why not? And I couldn't argue with that logic, so we are! (Sorry, it's late...)  
**


	4. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 4

**Hi everyone! I'm back with chapter 4! Woo! *Cheers* *General sounds of excitement* *One solo boo* *Sound of a shoe hitting the person who boo'd in the face* *More cheers* Hehe. Please enjoy and please review!**

Case 1- A Mother's Love- Part 4

"Mai!"

Naru threw the door open and more or less sprinted out of the base to the living room, leaving the rest of the SPR behind him to follow. Slowing, he came to a stop in front of the room's threshold. His eyes widened at the sight we was met with.

Mai lay face up on the ground, her hand was firmly grasping her clothes above her heart. She panted heavily, blood pumping with leftover adrenaline. Barely 3 inches from the girl's body was a large bookcase that once was pressed up against the wall. It was still intact despite the fall, though some wood had splintered. Books were scattered across the room.

Naru walked over and crouched down next to her. He ran a calloused hand through his hair, beginning to relax at the lack of obvious injury or danger. "Mai, are you alright?"

Mai looked up at him, startled by his sudden arrival. She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I don't think I'm hurt anywhere," She took the hand he offered to her and pulled herself up into an upright position. Glancing next to her, she let out a hiss. "Holy hell," She muttered, chilled at how close she had been to being under what lay beside her.

"What happened?" He asked. As she opened her mouth to answer, the rest of the SPR rushed in. Assorted curses and exclamations of astonishment arrived with them. Mai smiled slightly and waved at them.

"Don't worry guys, I'm all good," She turned back to Naru who had stood up and offered his hand to help her up again, suggesting it would be better to discuss everything back in base.

They all walked back together, Mai spending the small journey being passed back and forth between Ayako and Monk. They did their best to assess her health, but it wasn't until Ayako had Mai sit down on the couch in base to be officially checked over that everyone was satisfied. The only problem they found was the angry red color her wrists had turned from being grabbed. Ayako deemed that they wouldn't bruise, though.

Everyone settled into their seats in the large room and Mai recounted the event. The group was silent for a moment. "Did you feel anything before it? Any energy?" Naru finally asked. Mai thought a second but then shook her head.

"Nothing stood out to me."

The young man put his chin in his hand as he thought. "Do you feel anything, Miss Hara?"

Masako closed her eyes and concentrated. "It's hazy," She said, eyes clenched closed hard. "I can't make out individual spirits. It could be one, it could be many. There's so much anger and hate...It makes it hard to focus."

Naru looked over at Yasu and John. "What did you find out about the house?"

Yasu smiled broadly when he was addressed and shuffled up a handful of papers. Adjusting his glasses, he summarized what he and John had learned. "This house was built about 80 years ago. Only 3 different families have lived in it, though. The people who built the house lived in it for a while, then stopped. They all moved out but it still belonged to them and they didn't want to sell it. The new owner finally put it on the market about 10 years ago, but the listing price was super duper high because of of how old the house is and the original furniture was sold with it. Anyway, they lowered the price a lot after a while. About 5 years ago, a mother and her two sons bought it," Mai's eyes snapped up to meet Naru's. He met her gaze and nodded in acknowledgement. "They moved out after only like a year, though, because the two sons went missing. The police investigated but couldn't find anything at all so it's a cold case. The mom moved to a different city and..." Yasu paused and flipped back a few pages. "Yeah, she committed suicide 3 months after she moved."

Mai sat cross-legged on the couch, consumed in thought. That couldn't be the same woman from her dream, right? If she killed her son like that- and apparently another son too- why would she kill herself? To avoid being caught?

"Did you find anything about a fire?" Naru asked. Yasu looked over at John who shook his head.

"Sorry, there wasn't anything. Nothing burned down in the house, and the house was built over a fresh spot of land. Nothing was here before it."

"This is so confusing!" Ayako exclaimed. "Nothing they found matches up with what Mai sensed!"

"Maybe I was wrong," Mai suggested.

Masako shook her head. "I felt it too," She reminded everyone of how she had experienced the same overwhelming scent as Mai upon crossing the house's threshold.

"There's obviously a piece of information we're missing," Naru interrupted, closing a file he had open. "It's getting late. It would be best for everyone to just go to sleep. We can convene in the morning."

Monk was the first to jump up. "Good! I'm tired," He yawned to prove his point. As everyone stood up to go to their appropriate rooms to sleep, Monk caught Mai in a big hug. "Sleep well, Mai!" He ruffled her hair.

"I'll try," Mai giggled and waved at everyone as they left base. When they were gone she plopped back down on the couch. Looking at the backs of the two remaining men in base, she said, "Are both of you going to sleep in here with me?"

Naru turned in his chair to face her. "I will. Lin will probably go back to his room later."

She smiled. "Alright," Standing again, she walked over to where they were sat by the computer. Snagging a chair, she sat between them. "Do you guys need me to do anything?"

"Dreaming would probably be the most helpful thing right now," Lin smiled over at her. Mai sighed and placed her cheek on her hand.

"I'm not tired yet," She whined childishly. Lin chuckled and handed her a set of headphones.

"You can go over cameras with him until you get tired," He said, pointing at Naru.

"Can I?" Mai asked Naru. He simply moved his chair to the side to make room for her. She happily scooted her chair up next to his. The space made it so they were so close they touched shoulders. Mai felt her face flush slightly and tried to angle her head so he wouldn't notice, unaware that the young man was staring stubbornly at the screen to avoid her own gaze.

Lin sat in his chair, a couple feet away from the pair. He grinned to himself as he typed. They were so absolutely obvious. He had no idea how they hadn't noticed how the other felt about them. Well, he amended to himself, at the very least Naru. Mai was a little oblivious sometimes. Regardless, it blew his mind at just how much Naru had changed his behavior toward the brunette in the last 5 months. He opened up his email account and typed a message to Madoka. She would think this was adorable.

About halfway through the message, Lin looked up when a movement next to him caught his eye. Naru had Mai's head on his shoulder, her having fallen asleep. Lin glanced at his watch. She'd only made it 15 minutes since she said she wasn't tired. Lin stood up to assist, but Naru shook his head. "I've got her," He whispered. Naru slowly and carefully maneuvered Mai so he could pick her up without waking her. Scooping her up bridal style, he walked toward the couch. Mai, still partially awake but not enough to fully grasp her surroundings, thread her arms around Naru's neck.

He bent over the couch and set her down as gently as he could. He reached up to untangle her arms from around him. "Nooo," She groaned, still mostly asleep. He looked over his shoulder at Lin, a rare lost look on his face. Lin had to act quickly to hid his smirk. He shrugged and gave the universal 'go on' motion in Mai's direction. Naru looked at him incredulously, but turned back to Mai when she tightened her arms around him.

Sighing, he picked her back up again to set about his new task. After several moments he and Mai were both laying on the couch, Mai on the inside and him on the outside. Her arms were still wrapped around him, though she had loosened her grip as her sleep-muddled mind understood that her soft heat source wasn't about to leave. Her head was tucked against his chest.

Silently he turned his head to look at Lin. "You will tell no one," He whispered sharply. Lin held his hands up in surrender and quickly finished his message to Madoka before collecting his things and heading to his room. About to shut the door, he glanced inside and smiled. Naru had fallen asleep as well. His chin rested on top of Mai's head and he had one arm under head, the other being draped across her waist.

Cursing himself for not having his phone on him to take a picture, he slid the door shut.

Yeah, Lin reflected as he walked down the hall with a fond sigh, 5 months could really change a person.

**~Dream Sequence~**

_Mai opened her eyes to see a familiar black and starry world. Slowly, she stood up and looked around. "Naru?"  
_

_"Right here," Dream-Naru smiled at her kindly and offered her his hand. "Shall we?" Mai said nothing, but look his hand and let him lead her to her vision._

_Suddenly, she was in a room. With an unpleasant jolt she realized it was the living room she had been attacked in earlier. A woman was crouched in front of the big fireplace and appeared to be feeding the flames with something that was in a bulging garbage bag next to her. Mai vaguely saw the outline of something in her hand, but the object was partially blocked by her hand and what she could see was too nondescript for her to make out what it was. She stepped forward to take a closer look, but Dream-Naru took her hand to still her.  
_

_"Eiko!" A young man stormed into the room-he couldn't have been any older than herself. He was thin and pail, body covered in bruises and lacerations, yet his eyes blazed fiercely with anger. "Eiko, where is Taro? WHERE IS HE?" _

_The woman-Eiko, Mai presumed-paused what she was doing. Slowly, calmly, she stood up and turned to face the man. Mai instantly recognized her as the woman that had choked her in her dream. She had a twisted smile and a crazed look in her eye. "Taro?" She said the word slowly, as if hearing it for the first time. "Taro is gone."_

_"What did you do?" He screamed. He shook violently, though Mai wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. Eiko smiled broadly._

_"I took care of him, Seiji, don't you worry," She turned and crouched down to the garbage bag again. Pulling out something, she held it up for him (and subsequently Mai) to see. Mai gasped and staggered backward in horror, making Dream-Naru put a hand on her back to steady her. The woman held up an arm. A small arm that looked like it came from a small child. _

_"You bitch!" Seiji raged, tears gathering in his eyes. "You monster!" Eiko's eyes narrowed. _

_"Don't you dare speak to me that way!" She bit back harshly, a more focused look coming to her eye. A determined look that made Mai afraid. It had been that look that she stared into when she was killed by her-well, technically Taro, she supposed. "You show me respect, you bastard child!" _

_"Why should I?" The man clenched his shaking hands into a fist. "You hurt us! You hated us! And you...you killed him! My brother! Your son! You killed your _son_!"_

_"Don't call him that!" Eiko shrieked, her volume way louder than Seiji's ever had been. "I don't want to be your mother! You ruined my life!" She looked around quickly before her eyes set on the fireplace poker. She stalked towards him, waving the poker in front of her. "I was so young! So beautiful! I had to give up everything for you!"_

_Seiji backed away as she approached him. "He loved you," He continued meekly. _

_Eiko was in front of him now now. Adjusting her grip on her weapon, she smiled at him sweetly. "Well I didn't love him." _

_With that, she raised the object over her head and bashed him over the head. Crying out, he crumpled to the floor. She ignored him and kept beating him over the head. Mai's own hands shook and she raised them up to her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she silently sobbed. Dream-Naru pulled her to him and hid her face so she wouldn't have to see the rest, though a sound caused her to un-bury her head and look up. _

_Seiji lay in a pool of his own blood, though Mai could see his eyes half open and blinking. His breathing was slow, but Mai knew he was still alive. And awake. Eiko bent down and picked the boy up, carrying his limp body over to the fireplace. _

_Two and two clicked together in her mind. She was going to burn him alive. "NO!" She screamed and tried to run forward to stop her, but Dream-Naru grabbed her wrist. _

_"There's nothing you can do," He said sadly. Mai was forced to simply watch as the woman prepared to do what Mai knew she was going to._

_Suddenly, the room around her crackled. Dream-Naru looked up and around sharply, not knowing what was happening. He gripped Mai to him as he watched with apprehension. The room melted away, a little boy appearing in it's place. "Hello," He said quietly, trying his best to give them a smile. He was injured almost as much as Seiji had been. _

_"Taro?" Mai breathed her guess. Dream-Naru loosened his grip as he understood. _

_"That's me," He nodded at her, his face solemn. "Miss Mai, I need you to help me," Taro looked at her, eyes filling with tears. "My big brother can't leave. He's too angry. He hates mommy too much. I want him to be with me, but he can't come."  
_

_"I'll get him to move on," Mai told him, blinking back the tears she had finally gotten to stop coming. "I promise you I will."_

_Taro cried freely now and moved to hug her. He wrapped his little arms around her legs. "Thank you. I just want my big brother back!" Mai let her tears fall. Her heart broke for him and she ceased to care about holding them back. Bending over, she hugged him tightly.  
_

_The world faded to black and she knew she was waking up. As she drifted out of unconciousness, she pressed her hands to her heart. _

_"You'll be together again. I promise." _

**Oh wow guys. That last part is so extremely long it is insane. I'm fairly sure the dream makes up about half the chapter. Sorry ^^' Anyway, thank you to all who reviewed! It's really amazing. I think this case has about 2 more chapters to it (hopefully, if I can stick to the damn plan I swear to you all that I made but have stubbornly not followed) and then we'll move on! **_Please tell me if you think Naru is way too OOC._** I feel like he might be, but I'm trying to do some character development with him and I just flat out think it's cute. Please review!**


	5. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 5

**Yay! Chapter 5 is ready! Thanks to all of you who followed, favorited, and reviewed! It makes me really happy. Please, everyone, enjoy and don****'t forget to review!  
**

~Case 1- A Mother's Love- Part 5~

"That," Ayako said with her arms crossed over her chest. "Is literally the more adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life," Monk, Yasu, Masako, and John nodded silently next to her. They were all bent over the couch, staring at the pair of teenagers that were still snuggled together on it in their sleep.

"How do you think that happened?" Monk asked in a quiet voice. Ayako shrugged.

"I have no idea. I wish I had my camera, though," As she said this, Naru began to stir. The five people jumped into sudden action, rushing to give the impression that they had been doing something other than watching them sleep.

Naru opened his eyes slowly. He tensed when he felt a body against him, but relaxed when he remembered who it was. He sighed and began to gently ease himself out from under her. Moving slowly, he tried his best to avoid waking Mai. Finally he was able to get off the couch. His eyes widened slightly when he looked around.

"Morning Naru," Monk smirked, flipping through a book he had picked up. "Sleep well?"

Naru let his mask fall back into place as he glared at the older man and walked over to him. He snatched his book out of Monk's hands. Purposely ignoring everyone, he silently sat down and began reviewing the cameras. The group (excluding the ever respectful John) snickered at this response. It was soon after this that they realized that with their boss pouting and their primary information source asleep nothing was going to get done for a while. Sitting down, they spoke amongst themselves to pass time.

Only around 20 minutes passed before Mai gave signs of unrest. Masako, who had been sitting in the empty space on the couch above Mai's head, stopped speaking when the girl let out a small groan. She flipped over so she was laying on her back, giving her friends a good view of her eyebrows furrowing deeply.

"Do you think she's dreaming?" Yasu proposed, peering over at Mai from the opposite couch. John (who was beside him) mimicked the action.

"Probably," Ayako said, biting her lip apprehensively. They all remembered what happened the last time she dreamed and didn't care to have a repeat. She sat by Mai's feet with Monk beside her in a chair. Reaching out, she rubbed Mai's leg in tandem with Masako who brought a hand to Mai's head and began smoothing down her hair soothingly. The sleeping girl seemed to relax, if only slightly. "Look at you, being all caring," Ayako smiled at Masako. Masako shot her a look, really not wanting to re-visit the over-Naru discussion.

"Keep an eye on her," Naru said dully, glancing over at them. "Wake her if she starts getting hurt."

With a nod, the group went back to speaking. A couple more minutes went by with Mai doing little more than occasionally gasping or flinching (which the SPR couldn't exactly do anything about) before she suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream. Everyone in the room jumped in surprise and snapped their heads toward her. Mai's body shook as she began to sob.

Ayako was the first to react, pulling Mai up and over to her, hugging her against her chest and rocking back and forth. Monk was the next, sliding out of his chair to kneel in front of them both. "Mai," Monk gripped her knees and shook her.

"Wake her up," Naru demanded urgently, standing up and rushing over to them. "Slap her if you have to."

Ayako looked up at him briefly before nodding. Leaning back a little, she brought her hand up and took a deep breath before following through with a firm smack.

Her eyes immediately snapped open, tears continuing to pour out of them as her vision adjusted. Seeing Monk first, she bent over and threw herself into his waiting arms. "She killed them both," She cried.

Monk hugged her tightly. "I know sweetie," He soothed. "It's alright. It's over," Ayako was behind her, rubbing reassuring circles in her back.

Sniffling, Mai unburied herself from within Monk's chest as she started to calm down. Looking up, she saw the rest of the SPR and smiled. Lin was leaned back in his chair to see everything that was happening while Masako, Yasu, and John were all gathered at the front of the couch (Masako hadn't moved and the boys came to stand by her). Naru was to her direct right and watching her closely.

Monk stood up and sat between where Ayako was with Mai in her lap and Masako. Naru replaced him, crouching down in front of her. "Mai," He said gently. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"I...I had a dream," She said unnecessarily.

Naru surprised everyone by giving her a small, amused smile. "Good. Are you hurt?"

She shook her head negatively. "No, I was just watching."

"Alright," Naru nodded. "It didn't look like you were, but I wanted to be sure. Can you tell us what happened in the dream?"

Mai shifted uneasily in Ayako's lap but nodded. She shakily began to recount her dream, smiling slightly when she finished. It felt good to share what she saw-it felt like a load had been lifted off her chest.

Naru patted her on one of her knees when she finished and stood up. He walked over to his desk and grabbed a notepad, jotting down some notes. "Your dream explains what you and Miss Hara felt when you walked in," He said after a moment. "And why Miss Hara feels too much anger to sense the spirit."

"But it doesn't explain why he went after Mai," Yasu interjected. "She's only 16. If he cares about kids, he should be trying to protect her too."

"I'm not a kid!" Mai yelled indignantly.

"You're younger than I am," Yasu laughed at her.

"By like one year! That hardly makes me a ki-"

"Enough," Naru scolded. Yasu grinned at Mai who crossed her arms and glared at him. "Mai, how old did the youngest brother look?"

"Taro?" Mai pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. He was young, though. Nine at the oldest."

"That makes sense, then. Mai isn't young enough that he feels like she needs protection. It still seems odd that he attacked you, though. I had the same level of interaction with the kids as you did. We both were around them and spoke to them during the interviews in the beginning, yet I wasn't targeted."

"Maybe it's because she's a girl," John supplied. "He could be confusing them for his own mother, that's why he went after her and not you. "

"Seiji doesn't target our client, either," Ayako nodded. "Only his wife."

"Or it's because we _are_ talking about Mai. She's the most danger-prone person alive," Masako reminded. Mai gaped.

"It's pick-on-Mai day, isn't it?" She exclaimed.

Ayako giggled and patted her on the head. "Every day is pick-on-Mai day, honey."

"Wait!" Monk said suddenly, smacking his hand with a closed fist. "Mai was talking to the kids right before she got attacked, right Mai?"

"You were?" Naru raised his eyebrows at Mai.

"Oh yeah," Mai smiled. "I forgot. They tackled me to the ground and made me promise to play with them later."

"I think I understand now," Naru stated, tapping his pencil against his notepad. "John's right-Seiji does just go after women. After that, there aren't anymore differences. If a woman interacts with the children, she is targeted."

"That's also why he didn't go after me," Ayako gasped in realization. "I didn't speak to the kids."

"Or he just knows you're too old to be dangerous," Monk cried out as a purse went flying at him.

"Say that again!" Ayako dared.

"It would be wonderful if my employees didn't behave like quarreling 6 year olds," Naru said coolly, sitting back down. Ayako and Monk both grumbled and settled down. Naru read over his notes. "Seiji pushed a bookcase over," He said. "He's never done anything that powerful before. It's clear he is getting stronger. It would be best to get rid of him before anyone gets seriously hurt." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Takigawa, I'd like you to prepare for an exorcism."

"What?" Mai exclaimed. "Naru, no! Exorcisms destroy spirits, right? You can't do that!"

Naru looked at her. "At this point, it's the only thing we can do, Mai."

"Can't we at least _try_ a cleansing?" She asked desperately. "It's not his fault he's trapped here!"

Naru's gaze softened. "A cleansing won't work. He's too far gone for it to affect him. I'm sorry."

"But I promised Taro I'd help him!" Mai began pacing back and forth across the room and brought a hand up to her mouth. She chewed on her cuticle as she thought aloud. "There has to be another way, Naru. Maybe if we just-"

"Stop that," He reached out and put a hand on her forearm as she passed him. She stopped and turned to him. He pulled her hand away from her mouth. "You'll make yourself bleed like that. _We_ aren't going to do anything. Takigawa is going to perform an exorcism and then we will all go home. Case closed."

"But Naru-!" Mai started.

"Mai, we're not going to fight about this. I'm not changing my mind," He told her sternly, removing his hand from her forearm. "Now, go get tea before the exorcism."

Mai's face flushed in frustration. She fought to come up with words to convince him to call off the exorcism. Realizing there weren't any, she let out a sort of angry half-scream and spun on her heels. She slammed the door behind her.

"I'll go with her," Ayako said, beginning to stand up.

"No," Naru told her, voice abnormally quiet for him. "She's upset-she just needs some time," He rubbed his face and sighed. "Miss Matsuzaki, Father Brown, go with Takigawa to give support if the exorcism fails."

"What if it does fail?" Monk asked uneasily. "Mai's the current target, and if it fails she'll be alone and he'll be angry."

"She should be back before that becomes a problem," Naru sighed. "Just go."

The three people nodded hesitantly and left quickly. Masako and Yasu glanced at each other uncomfortably. The only sounds were Lin's continued typing and Naru unconsciously tapping his fingers against the desk. The atmosphere was absolutely suffocating, and getting worse with every minute Mai was gone.

After about 15 minutes of this, a voice came through over one of their walkie-talkies. "We just started, Naru," Ayako whispered, as not to disturb Monk. Yasu and Masako hurried over to the screens. Sure enough, there Monk was in the middle of the children's bedroom. Ayako and John were back against the wall to give him plenty of room.

"She's not back," Masako breathed. Her eyes scanned the screen. "There," She pointed to the kitchen were Mai was still making tea. It was obvious by the pace she was moving at that she was doing everything in her power to take as long as possible to annoy Naru.

It worked.

"Goddammit!" Naru cursed, shooting up from his chair. He snatched a walkie-talkie from the table. "This is not the time for the only target the spirit has right now to have a fit. Lin, monitor the exorcism and alert me of any changes," He stormed out of the room and, in a similar fashion to Mai, slammed it shut behind him.

Naru jogged down the hallway and stairs to the kitchen, not liking the eerie sense of d_éjà vu_ that filled him. "Mai," Naru said as he pushed through the doors to the kitchen. "It doesn't take even close to this long to make tea."

"How do you know," She snapped at him, not even turning to face him. "You never make your own tea."

Naru ran a hand through his hair anxiously "I know you're upset, but this really isn't the time. Let's just go back to base," He said, gently grabbing her hand and tugging. She pulled away.

"The tea's not done," She grumbled, returning to her task.

"I don't care about the tea right now," Naru grabbed her wrist more tightly, not enough to hurt but enough she couldn't easily break out of his hold.

"Naru stop," She protested, tripping over herself a little as he pulled her.

"Mai, you're acting like a child," He growled. "They've already started the exorcism. No matter what, he should at least be distracted right now. I'd really rather not have you out and vulnerable if the exorcism fails," He glanced behind him and saw her mouth open to reply. "Mai _please_ just come."

Mai huffed angrily, trying her best to remain upset with him. The knowledge that Naru was trying hard to keep her safe broke her down, though, and she sighed and looked down at her feet. "I just...I really wish I could help him. He didn't deserve anything he went through-neither of them did."

Naru came to a stop just in front of the beginning of the staircase, next to the living room. "I know," He said gently. "You can't save them all, though. The chances of him breaking out of his anger are slim to none. He's getting stronger- we can't let anyone get hurt."

Mai looked up at him, eyes prickling with tears. "I know," She whispered. Naru gave her a long look. After a moment, he opened his arms to her. She blinked and felt her cheeks slowly grow more red as she realized what he was doing.

He shifted slightly. Mai almost smiled at how awkward he looked like he felt. "It's customary to offer hugs as comfort, I believe."

Mai giggled and wrapped her arms around him, knowing her face was bright red. "Yeah, it is," He hugged her to him closely. "I'm sorry, Naru."

"It's alright," He squeezed her tighter for a second. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay," She murmured, savoring the feeling of being held by him. "What is it?"

Naru took a deep breath and rested his chin on top of her head. "Mai, I lo-"

"Naru!" Ayako's voice said urgently from the walkie-talkie he had strapped to his belt. Naru growled a little, not happy he had been interrupted. "Naru! Pick up!"

"What?" Naru answered the device harshly, one arm still wrapped around Mai.

"Are you with Mai?" She asked hurriedly. Naru glanced down to see Mai's confused face. He narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, why?"

"The exorcism failed! Seiji vanished and we have no idea where he is! Masako still can't sense where he is, but she says he's even more angry than he was before. Hurry up and get her back here!"

Naru began pulling at Mai again with re-discovered urgency. "This is why we don't dawdle when we're targets," He told her as she began hurrying with him. When they were about 10 stairs up, she suddenly stopped. "Mai, what's wrong?" He glanced back.

Mai's eyes were wide with fear. "Naru," She whispered as if speaking too loudly would provoke something. "I think Seiji has my wrist."

Before he could react to this, Mai was proven right when she was yanked backwards. Her hand slipped out of Naru's unsuspecting grasp. "Mai!" He shouted as she fell backwards down the stairs.

Mai cried out when she hit the ground, grateful she hadn't been higher up the staircase. The only injury she really had from her height had been cracking her head against the floor again. The already bruised spot throbbed angrily.

"I'm okay," She groaned.

Naru started back toward her, but stopped short. "Mai, stay calm," He said, looking above her. He reached back down to his belt and carefully got his walkie-talkie. Naru was calling to have someone come help-he knew he couldn't do anything to defend her or himself (save using his PK, but he had a feeling passing out right now wouldn't be helpful to anyone).

Curious, Mai looked up. She had to clamp a hand down over her mouth to keep from screaming. Hovering over her was Seiji. His previously pale white bruised skin was now a black, charred color. He had a huge indentation in his skull where Mai guessed he had been hit with the fireplace poker. The spirit grinned down at her-he had too. His lips had been burned off. "Seiji," Mai squeaked.

"That's right, Mom," Seiji reached down to her and ran his hands through her hair. "It's me."

"I-I'm n-not your-" Mai stuttered, scared at how close he was to her. Seiji glared and fisted her hair.

"Yes you are," He hissed, giving her hair a pull that made her wince. "I don't care how much you hate us, YOU ARE OUR MOTHER!"

Mai could hear Naru speaking rapidly, she guessed into the walkie-talkie. "N-no, Seiji. You're confused, I-"

"SHUT UP!" Seiji shouted. He pulled her upwards by her hair, making her semi-stand. He yanked her face close to his. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to us," He growled.

"Mai!" Her eyes darted to the top of the staircase where the rest of the SPR was rushing to her aid. She saw Ayako already starting the nine cuts and Monk starting his incantations.

"You won't interfere!" Seiji howled. He thrust his hand out, pushing everyone backwards. They stumbled back over the stairs, making mostly everyone fall on their butts onto a stair. Seiji smiled victoriously and pulled Mai aggressively toward the living room door.

"Stop! Let me go!" Mai screamed, raising her hands to try to get him to unhand her. She wasn't sure what he wanted to do to her, but she knew that the living room was the last place she wanted to be when he did it. "Naru!"

Naru's heart clenched at the sound of her calling for him. Casting aside the common sense he was known for, he ran toward her. "Naru!" Lin called after him as he sprinted away.

Mai struggled more when she was inside the room. The aura that clouded the room was dark and sickening and she immediately wanted out. She thrashed and clawed at him and even let herself just drop to the ground as dead weight. This only served to hurt her head when he forced her back up. He made her stand there and watch as Naru rushed forward.

He was almost to the door when it slammed shut right in front of his face. He pounded on the door before throwing himself against it, trying to break it down. A few seconds later when the group finally made it down the stairs, Monk moved Naru to the side to give it a try himself. It was as they were coming to terms with the fact that they could not break the door open and had to find another way in that they heard Seiji speak.

"Now it's time for _you_ to suffer."

**End of chapter 5! How was it? Review to tell me! Next chapter will be the end of this case, just to remind you :) It should be up sometime today or tomorrow, hopefully. To everyone who cares, I ran into a question during this chapter. **_Who do you want me to pair Masako with?_** I have both John and Yasu at the ready, but I don't know what the more popular pairing is. Let me know!**

**Oh! One last thing. I got some PMs asking **_if/when I'm going to have Mai and Naru get together officially_**, and I decided you all should know. We're right on the cusp of it, my friends. It's not going to happen next case for sure (unless my brain changes it's mind suddenly), but after that it could be anytime! Don't worry, though, I'm not going to have it be in like 50 chapters or anything. Much, much sooner!**


	6. Case 1-A Mother's Love-Part 6 (Final)

**Last chapter of the case is up! Woot! And so soon! Guys, I am on the ball this week. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I've had so many review this chapter (6 reviews guys!) and it makes me so ridiculously happy. Also thank you to my 2 new followers and I believe my 1 few favorite..er? Anywho, please enjoy and review!**

~Case 1- A Mother's Love- Part 6~

As the door slammed closed, Seiji released Mai's hair. Having not totally been supporting her own weight and not having time to brace herself, she fell to the floor. She saw Seiji walk away from her to the opposite end of the room and sighed in momentary relief. It was obvious by the way her friends were pounding on the living room door that they couldn't get in and we're having a lot of luck breaking in either. She'd have to take care of herself this time.

"Seiji," Mai began nervously, watching his every move. He was currently looking around the room and running his hands over every available surface. He came to a stop at the fireplace and turned to look at her. "Listen, I know you _think_ I'm your mom, but-"

"No, no," Seiji hushed. "We're not going to start this, Mom. You never let us call you 'Mom' when we were alive- I think you owe it to me to let me do it now."

"Your mother is-" Mai tried again-if she could get him to listen to what she had to say then she might have a chance.

"Stop!" Seiji snarled, slamming his hands down on the stone fireplace. Mai jumped at the sudden action. He walked toward her, waving his finger. "You can't save yourself from this," He reached her and crouched. She tried to move backwards, but he was faster than she was. He roughly grabbed her wrist to still her. Mai stared up at him in fear and watched as a familiar, twisted look came into his eyes. "Now it's time for _you_ to suffer."

With that, Seiji yanked her upwards by her wrist and threw her against the wall. She yelped as she hit it with a thud, her head snapping backward with the impact. Mai brought her hands up to cradle her now thoroughly abused cranium. Looking up, she barely had time to brace herself before a kick aimed to her side sent her to the ground. "Seiji," She moaned in pain.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" He grinned. He grabbed her head under the jaw firmly and forced her to stand. "This is what he and I went through everyday with you," He slammed her back against the wall, causing her to cry out. Mai felt tears welling up in her eyes, though she wasn't sure whether they were tears of sadness, pain, or fear. She suspected it was a little of each.

In the back of her mind she registered the frantic pounding at the door and what sounded like people trying to break it down. It had always been there, but it seemed louder than it had been before. Seiji apparently heard the increase in volume too because he glanced toward the door with a deep frown. "Why do they want to protect you so badly?" He muttered to himself, bringing his hands down slowly to rest against Mai's throat.

"They love me," She winced. "Like your brother loved you," Taro was probably the best chance she had of getting him to move on- after all, he was why he was still here.

She realized this was a bad move when Seiji's eyes hardened and he put pressure on her throat. She gasped to breathe in air, reaching her hands up to try to pull his hands away. Her fingers slid right through his. "Don't talk about him," He warned. "You have no right to even say his name," He pressed harder.

"P-please," She gasped. "Stop..." Seiji laughed at her and squeezed so hard she saw stars.

"Why? You never did," Nonetheless, he dropped her. Mai gratefully began sucking in air and clutched her already abused neck. She watched him as he walked back to the fireplace. "Never stopped..." He trailed off. Mai blinked suddenly. Had...had the fire been lit this whole time? Horrifying realization set in as she watched him pick up the fireplace poker. He poked the sharp tip once and smiled contently, looking up at her peacefully. Walking toward her, he gave the poker a few test swings. "You're going to know _exactly_ how I felt."

"Seiji, you've got to listen to me," Mai said urgently, standing up quickly. Her head ached painfully and she stumbled a little before steadying herself. "I'm not your mom, my name is Mai Taniyama. I'm a high school student and-"

"Don't do this," Seiji clicked. "It's disgraceful."

"No! Really, I..." Mai fought to find something that would stop his advancing. "Taro asked me to help you!" It worked for a second, Seiji's eyes had a sudden sane clarity in them before clouding in anger again.

"I told you not to say his name!" He yelled, lunging forward with the weapon. Mai just barely managed to dodge, but still ended up with a big scrape going down her arm.

Mai ran as far away from him as the room would allow and spoke quickly, panicking now. "He came to me and asked me to help you move on. He's already passed on, but he's lonely without you there. You can't be with him if you don't forgive your mother and let go of your hate," She suddenly realized how unlikely she sounded but there was nothing else she could do at this point. If a full blown exorcism didn't hurt him, the nine cuts sure wouldn't do anything besides make him angrier (though she was almost sure that wasn't possible at this point). Clamping a hand down on the bleeding cut, she watched with wide eyes as his burnt face flickered with different emotions.

"No...You're lying..." He whispered, sounding unsure. "Taro...I..."

"It's true," Mai breathed. It seemed like she was getting through to him. "He wants you to be together again."

"Taro," Seiji smiled. "I miss him so much. I want to be with him again," Mai felt a rush of utter relief that vanished as quickly as it appeared. Seiji grinned at her as he re-raised the poker. "That's why I have to kill you. If I kill you, I will know that no one else will suffer by you. Then I can move on."

Mai hadn't noticed how close he had gotten while they had been talking. He was only about 2 feet from her now and she was backed up into a corner. There wasn't going to be any dodging this strike. Seiji brought the poker up over his head and looked down at her. "Is there anything you'd like to say before you die, Mom?"

She winced and prepared for the hit. "Don't do this," Her mouth said. Mai's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to say that, so why-? She felt her body stand up straight and look at Seiji. "Don't hurt her, big brother."

Seiji's eyes went wide. "...Taro?" His brought the poker down a bit from it's ready position.

Mai beamed at him. "It's me, big brother. I've missed you so much."

He dropped the poker altogether now. "I've missed you too," He whispered. Taro wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Don't hurt Mai," Taro said into Seiji's chest. "This girl isn't Mommy. She didn't hurt us."

"But she looks just..." He pulled back and examined Mai's body. "...No, I..."

"You were wrong," Taro informed him. "Mommy is already gone, big brother."

"She is?" Seiji asked in a small voice, tears welling up in his eyes. "She's really gone?"

Taro nodded with a grin. "There's nothing left to keep you here, big brother. Please, let's be a family again," The older brother had tears running down his cheeks. He nodded in a silent affirmation and Mai felt Taro leave her body in response. She slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Mai is your name?" She looked up to see Seiji staring at her. His appearance had changed from the black, burnt, and broken body that had been attacking her. His skin was back to it's original pale white, and he didn't even have his bruises anymore. Light brown hair fell into his bright green eyes. Mai nodded in affirmation. "I'm...sorry. I don't know how I couldn't see that you weren't..."

Mai smiled at him weakly and put a hand on his arm. "I forgive you. Go."

He grinned at her broadly and she had to shield her eyes from the blinding white light that engulfed him and he moved on. After he left, she sighed heavily. The girl gently rested her head back against the wall and let her eyes flicker shut.

They didn't remain that way for long. Within seconds, the doors to the living room slammed open loudly. Mai jumped and snapped her eyes open with a surprised scream. The SPR rushed into the room, each trying to get to her. Ayako was the one to succeed, and coming next to her and tearfully beginning to assess her injuries. Since she was still in the corner, no one else could reach her. Monk was doing his best to be involved, though. He stood right behind Ayako and made a general fuss. "What about that?" He said every once in a while, pointing to a bruise or cut. "I've already checked that," Was Ayako's typical response through clenched teeth. She was doing her best to remain calm for Mai, but he really wasn't helping at all.

The rest of the SPR hung back a bit. Masako tried to look over Monk's shoulder, but he was too tall for her to effectively do so. She backed up and Naru (who _was_ tall enough to see) took her place. Lin and John hung back at the entrance, not wanting to get in anyone's way, while Yasu (who absolutely did want to get in everyone's (except Ayako and Mai's) way) bounded around the room and cracked stupid jokes in an attempt to cheer everyone up. He was promptly ignored.

"She's okay," Ayako announced, standing. She offered Mai a hand to help her up. "But I need to bandage her up still," Mai swayed a bit when she got to her feet. Ayako tried to steady her, but Mai brushed her off with a smile.

"I'm alright," She said. Naru frowned at her and pushed past Ayako. Scooping her up bridal style, he followed the miko to base. "Naru!" Mai protested, kicking her feet. "I said I'm okay!"

"Oh, alright then. I'm definitely reassured," Naru said dryly.

"I am!" Mai crossed her arms over her chest. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Shh, Mai," She glared at him but made no other moves to get away while he carried her to base.

"Alright then," Mai said when he deposited her onto the couch. Ayako rushed over to her with her first-aid kit and began working on her. "What now?"

"Now," Naru sat down in his chair and rubbed his temple. "We leave. After you get patched up, we'll begin packing."

"We'll get started," Monk offered, taking John and Yasu each under one arm. Naru nodded and they began picking up monitors. Masako grabbed some of the lighter equipment and hurried out after them.

Lin stood up as well. "I'll go inform the clients that we've wrapped up the case," He said quietly, walking out the door.

The room was silent for a few minutes. "There!" Ayako finally said, patting Mai on the knee with a smile. "All done. Your arm can go without stitches, but you might have to get some if you're not careful, okay?" Mai nodded in understanding. "Your head is alright, too. No concussion. You'll probably have a headache for a while, though."

Ayako stood up and gave Mai a kiss on the forehead before picking up a box and heading out to the van. Mai looked after her for a second, but then felt a pair of eyes looking at her. She looked over to see Naru watching her. Smiling, she waved at him and stood up. "I know, I know. I'll start helping too."

"No," Naru told her, grabbing the hand she had held out to pick something up. "Sit down. Everyone else can handle it."

"I can help," She said stubbornly. Naru looked at her in disbelief.

"Mai, not 30 seconds ago the _doctor_ said if you weren't careful you'd need stitches."

She put a hand on her hip. "It's a light box."

He narrowed his eyes at her and pulled her to the couch. He made her sit down and took a seat right beside her. "You're not being a good patient," He informed, hand still holding hers. Mai blushed a little.

"I'm not hurt that bad," She maintained. Naru sighed and let his head fall backward onto the couch.

"You're also being stubborn," She rolled her eyes. Naru was silent for a second. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Mai blinked in surprise. "What? What are you sorry for?"

"I was there, I should have protected you," He closed his eyes and held her hand tighter. "It's my fault you got hurt."

Mai pursed her lips and squeezed his hand. "Naru, it's just a cut and a few bruises. I'm alright. Besides, it's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I was acting like a little kid-that's the only reason I was out there to begin with," Naru tilted his head to face her and opened his mouth. "No, stop. It's over anyway. It doesn't bother me, so it shouldn't bother you."

Naru closed his mouth and just looked at her. She grinned at him and stood up, giving his hand a tug."Now c'mon, if you're not going to let me help carry anything down, we can at least go help arrange everything in the vans."

He let Mai half-pull him up. "Fair enough," He agreed as they began heading outside.

Mai stopped suddenly, dropping Naru's hand. He got a few steps ahead of her before he looked back. "Oh yeah!" Mai exclaimed. "Right before I got attacked, you said you needed to tell me something. What is it?"

Naru froze for a moment. Relaxing, he gave her a partial smirk. "Don't remember," He continued walking.

"Naru! Wait!" She yelled after him. "You do too remember! What was it? Naru!"

**All done! Wow, this is the fastest I've ever written a chapter. I'm fairly happy with it too, so I'm really surprised. See? Reviews DO make people write faster :) Anyway, this was the last chapter of the case, so next chapter is the start of a new one! Yay! **_Remember to tell me who you want me to pair Masako with!_** John's winning so far, but only by one vote! Thank you for reading, please review!**


	7. Case 2-Liar Liar-Part 1

**OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY. SO SO SO SO SORRY. I'm a horrible horrible author. I don't deserve love. Or reviews. How long has it been? Just over three weeks, right? Dear God. Alright, so here's my piss poor excuse for being MIA so long-First off, I had finals that ended Wednesday of last week (Today currently being Tuesday-Oh, lookie there, actually currently 3:01 on Wednesday). A little after that I told one of my favorite reviewers a filthy dirty lie. You know who you are and I AM SO SORRY. My parents sprang a surprise vacation on me on Friday morning (kidnapping, essentially) and I got back this Tuesday morning. I then proceeded to get this out. I'M SORRY. PLEASE LOVE ME.  
**

~Case 2 – Liar Liar – Part 1~

"Mai," Naru rubbed his temples, fighting to keep himself calm. "Just get in the van."

The brunette stood in front of him with her hands clasped tightly together behind her back. She shifted from foot to foot nervously. "I'd really rather not..."

Naru gritted his teeth a bit. "Lin and the others should have left about 20 minutes ago. There is no one left to take you. If you do not get in with me right now, you aren't going to go."

Mai stopped shifting, a thoughtful look coming across her face. "Well..."

"_Mai._"

"Fine!" Mai threw her hands up in surrender. "But I swear to all greater powers, if I do not get there alive I am _so_ gonna haunt you!"

The boy heaved a heavy sigh of relief as his assistant climbed into the passenger's seat of one of SPR's vans. "I honestly have no idea what's wrong with you," He remarked as he himself got into the vehicle and started it up. He kept speaking as he turned to look behind him to back out of the parking space. "I drive just fine."

"You don't have a license," Mai reminded softly, knuckles white with how tightly she was clutching the arm rest.

"Because I choose not to.".

Mai looked over at him skeptically. "Lin said it's because you drive super fast and swerve all over the road."

Naru's eye twitched and he made a mental note to have a chat with his guardian. "It's by choice, I assure you," It was obvious his comforting did no good when she loudly gasped as he pulled onto the main road. "I swear, if you die on this trip, it will have absolutely nothing to do with me. It will be because you gave yourself a heart attack on the way there."

"I will not," She said weakly. "Why isn't Lin here again?"

"Would you calm down? Have I given you any reason to think I can't drive?" Naru smirked when she said nothing. "Exactly. So relax. As for why he's not here, I told him and everyone else to go on without us. It saves more time if they go alone than if they waited until I retrieved you to go. And it gives them time to get base set up."

"Still, though..." Mai sighed in defeat and leaned back in her seat, slowly releasing her skin-tight grip on the arm rest as she grew more confident that Naru wouldn't crash the van and kill them both. As she relaxed, she was surprised to find herself being overcome with sudden fatigue. "What's the case about anyway?" She asked with a yawn.

Mai was horrified to discover that her question led to Naru taking a hand off the wheel. "A principal," He said while ignoring Mai's screech, reaching down into the space between his seat and the console. "Came to see us today and told us his high school was having problems," He handed her a file.

More relaxed now that Naru was once again driving safely, she flipped the file open. "Ichikawa?"

He nodded. "It's a private school in Chiba. From what we were told, various students are being pushed down the stairs."

"What?" Mai's eyes widened. "Are they alright?"

"Most," Naru assured. "Apparently they are shoved with reasonable strength, but not enough to completely put them off balance. The majority of the students have been able to catch themselves before they're hurt, but one boy was caught completely off guard and took quite the fall. He's now in the hospital," Glancing over, he caught the concerned look on her face. "He'll be fine. The principal said he sustained no serious injuries."

"Oh. That's good," Mai smiled a little. "Is there anything else, then?"

"Yes, actually. In addition to people being pushed down that flight of stairs, others can't seem to go down it at all. They describe it as if a force-field is keeping them from going down it," Mai flipped through the file, finding the papers that corresponded to the particular case he was talking about. "Lastly, some of the students came forward after talk of a ghost causing everything started up. They said that all of a sudden they were being plagued by vivid nightmares of themselves falling down the same flight of stairs everyone's having a problem with at school."

Mai yawned again, feeling her eyes begin to droop. Forcing them open, she said, "It's not exactly going to be hard to figure out where the spirit's bound to, is it?"

Naru smirked in amusement. "Indeed it won't. Don't forget, though. It could very well be a poltergeist causing the problems."

Mai stuck her tongue out at him before rubbing her eyes. "Jeez," She exclaimed in frustration. "Why am I so tired? I haven't been sleepy all day!"

Naru looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I know for a fact you're not really this dense."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mai asked incredulously, giving him a hard glare.

"Mai, what normally happens when you get tired for no particular reason when we're on a case?"

She thought a second. "I have a...oh, right. I never really think of that as a possibility, you know."

"I gathered. It actually happens quite a lot, it should cross your mind more," Naru reached over into her lap and took back the file. "It's fine to go to sleep. It takes an hour and a half to get to Chiba from the office, so we have a while yet."

Mai watched him as he drove for a second. Finally, she smiled and shifted down further into her seat. "Alright. You'll wake me up if anything happens, right?"

Naru looked at her curiously. "I'm driving down a plain road. What could possibly happen that would be worthy of waking you to tell you about?"

"Crashing would be one," She said dryly, closing her eyes.

Naru rolled his eyes. "Alright then. If we crash, I'll be sure to tell you about it right away."

"That's all I ask," By the time the last word was uttered, she was asleep.

Naru kept his eyes trained on the road, a small, real smile crossing his lips after he knew she was out. "Idiot," He muttered affectionately.

~Dream Sequence~

_Mai slowly blinked her eyes open to reveal the scenery she knew all so well. Sitting up, she smiled to see her companion waiting for her with an outstretched hand. "Hi Naru," She greeted him as she stood up. Dream-Naru smiled back at her in response. "What do you have to show me today?" _

"_Nothing, to show you," He told her kindly. "Just a warning."_

"_A warning?" Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. _

"_Nar-" Dream-Naru paused a second. "_I_ may be in danger once we get to the school."_

_Mai payed no attention to his little slip up. "Why would you be in danger? What's going on there?"_

"_I can't say right now," Dream-Naru silenced her, putting a hand on her head. "But please, tell me when you wake up that I may be in danger."_

"_I will," Mai promised. "But wouldn't it be easier if-"_

_Dream-Naru laughed. "It would, but sadly it doesn't work that way. Soon though, I promise."_

_Mai crossed her arms."Okay..."_

"_Good girl," He grinned at her and leaned down a bit so they were eye level with each other. "It's time to wake up now, alright?"_

_Mai made eye contact with him for a brief second. During that second, she felt a sudden jolt go through her. Feeling her eyes start to widen, she snapped them closed. "Alright. I'll see you soon, then."_

_Dream-Naru patted her on the head and she heard him chuckle a bit as she began to feel herself wake up. _

_For a first, Mai's mind was racing as the airy feeling of changing planes engulfed her. 'Why just then...' Mai thought to herself. 'Why when I looked into his eyes did he not look like Naru at all?'_

**Oh ho ho? Lookie there, Miss Mai seems to be catching on to something, doesn't she? How interesting! Interesting enough for a REVIEW?! Actually, probably not...But DO IT ANYWAY! Yaaay! Oh, also! I decided that **on my profile I'll post the thing that inspired the case I'm working on (i.e the ghost story) every new one.** Just in case, you know, you want to write a fanfic yourself or are just interested :) Hopefully someone'll find it kinda neat.**


	8. Case 2-Liar Liar-Part 2

**GUYS. GUYS I LOVE YOU. **

**Did that soften any of you up? No? Not so much? Welp, okay. Alrighty then, here's what's up- My computer is being a poncy little thing. I did a little matenance and hopefully it sticks (it is so far). Beyond not accepting YouTube in any form, my computer didn't like the FanFiction account page at all either. **_It wouldn't let me post or alter any documents._** At all. It also didn't alert me when I got reviews, so if I didn't reply (which I really really try to do) either tell me or accept my apology because honestly did not know. SO. After this, there shouldn't be any more problems. I won't promise, because that didn't do so well last time, but I do not foresee any problems. All better? *Grins sweetly* *Gets hit in the face with a tomato* Yeah... But long chapter to make up for it!**

**One last thing- I got a review telling me Mai and Naru needed to be, for lack of a better word, more cold to each other. **_The reason they are so 'lovey' to each other_** is because I figured no one wanted to see the warm-up phase since there are so many fics like that already. The 5 months we didn't see at the beginning of my story were the warm up period. Naru basically got his shit together and realized he liked Mai then. Yeah? Everyone good? Good!  
**

~Case 2 – Liar Liar – Part 2~

Mai sat cross-legged on a couch in base, one arm resting on her knee as it supported her chin. She stared at the wall, completely unaware of what was going on around her. The brunette had been deep in thought ever since she woke up, mind reeling from her dream. Her common sense told her she should stop putting so much meaning into such a little detail and she should be embarrassed that she was spending so much time dwelling on something so ridiculous. So what if Dream-Naru didn't exactly match up to Naru aesthetically? It was her mind's translation of him into her dreams. She shouldn't _really_ expect them to be identical, could she? Absolutely she should, the gut-instinct part of her would chime in. If it was _her_ mind's vision of him, surely there wouldn't be any differences _she herself_ could see. The simple fact that she noticed at all was without a doubt a red flag, right?

Deciding she found her gut-instinct's argument more convincing, she tried to reason it out. Was she trying to tell herself who she saw in her dream wasn't Naru? No, of course she wasn't. Mai felt her body shake her head. That would be silly. If it wasn't Naru then who would it possibly be? A look-a-like? It suddenly occurred to her the only connection she had ever made between Naru and Dream-Naru was their appearance. He'd never introduced himself as Naru and he certainly didn't _act_ like Naru. Mai's eyebrows creased in confusion and she felt a headache coming on. This whole thing was way over her head. Heaving a heavy sigh, she reached a mental conclusion. The best thing for her would be to confront Dream-Naru with her concerns, no matter how ridiculous they were. If nothing else, it wouldn't hurt to have a reassurance of who he was. It would put her mind at ease.

She smiled and nodded to herself, pleased with her decision. Sitting up a bit straighter and looking around the long-ignored base, she immediately jumped at the sight she was met with. Every member of the SPR, save Lin and Naru, were watching her closely. Mai felt her cheeks heat up as she wondered how long she had been thinking. "H-hi?"

Ayako, who was sitting right next to her, giggled a bit at the surprised expression on her face. "You've been staring off into space for quite a while, kid," Monk informed her with a laugh of his own from his chair next to Ayako. John, sitting on the other side of Mai, patted her on the shoulder while Masako, who sat in a chair next to John, looked on with an amused smile.

Naru and Lin stood at the front of the room, plugging in various cords to various places. Naru, upon hearing this interaction, turned around. "I don't pay you to daydream, you know, Mai."

Just like that the girl's face switched from embarrassed to annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"And I'd thank you not to do it on the clock," He continued, abandoning the wires in lieu of a piece of paper. His eyes scanned over it briefly. "But since you seem to be finished with it for the time being," He said, walking over and handing her the piece of paper. "I want you and Miss Hara to go around and get impressions. That's a list of the places I want you both to feel out."

And just as quickly, Mai's face switched from annoyed to excited. "Me too?" She'd never gone around with Masako before.

"You've been training with Lin and I feel like your abilities have developed enough to be helpful," Naru explained as he watched her begin to bounce in her seat. Rolling his eyes, he decided against saying anything. "Miss Matsuzaki," He said instead. "You're going to go with them."

Ayako nodded her understanding and stood up, stretching her arms out as she did so. "You guys ready?" When both teen girls nodded, she smiled and held a hand out to help Mai up. "Let's go then."

**~Later~**

"Oh shoot," Mai stopped suddenly. They'd been walking around for about a half hour so far, but hadn't felt anything beyond the cool drafts of the school's ventilation system. The only stop left was the stairway where most of the problems originated from.

Ayako and Masako took a few steps forward, but turned when they noticed she stopped. "What's up?" Ayako asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"I just remembered that I had a dream in the car," Mai groaned, putting her face in her hands. "I was thinking so much that I completely forgot to tell Naru."

"It will be fine," Masako said with a smile. "Just be sure to tell him when we get back."

"It's really important, though," Mai insisted, biting on a fingernail. "Ayako can I borrow your phone?"

She shrugged. "Sure," Digging it out of her jacket pocket, she handed it to Mai. "How long are you going to talk?"

"Not long," Mai assured, dialing her boss's number. "You two can go on ahead though," She pointed to the stairway at the end of the hall. "I'll catch up in a minute, I promise."

Masako and Ayako both looked at her skeptically. "You can't be trusted on your own," Masako said bluntly. "You get attacked."

The brunette teen rolled her eyes as she hit the call button. "You guys are still within eyesight. I won't be on my own."

The two other woman glanced at each other and let out an identical sigh. "Alright," Ayako said finally. "Just be careful," And with that, they walked away.

Mai glared after them. "Be careful with what?" She wondered aloud. "Standing in one spot doing nothing?" Tapping her foot impatiently, she waited for Naru to pick up.

"Yes, Miss Matsuzaki?" Mai smiled in relief when her boss's voice came through.

"Hey Naru," She said cheerfully. "It's Mai."

"Where's Miss Matsuzaki?" Mai huffed.

"Hi there Mai! How are you? How's doing impressions going?" She sighed. "She's over there with Masako."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"Because I needed to talk to you and I told them to go on ahead."

"You're being reckless again."

"I'm fine! We haven't sensed anything anywhere! I'm not so much of a danger magnet that I can _materialize a threat out of thin air_!" Mai gestured wildly with her free hand as she spoke.

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"Naru, I swear-"

"Focus Mai. What did you need?"

"Oh," Mai blinked. "Right. I had a dream on the way here. I completely forgot to tell you and it was really important."

She heard Naru sigh over the phone and a rustling followed. "Let me find a notepad."

"No, Naru, you don't need one. I dreamed that you had to be careful."

The rustling stopped. "What?"

"You have to be careful on this case. You will, right?"

"Why do I have to be careful, Mai?" Mai's lips curled up in humor. He actually sounded confused.

"I'm not sure. I just know that you may be in danger."

Another sigh. "Okay, I'll be careful," He agreed. "Is that all?"

Mai grinned to herself. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. "Yeah, that's all. Do you promise, though?"

"Yes," He sounded a little annoyed.

"Say that you promise."

"Mai-"

"Say it or I'll tell Lin!"

"I promise," He said, now definitely annoyed. She could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose. "Now go catch up with Miss Matsuzaki and Miss Hara."

"Alright! Bye Naru!" Mai said, her cheerful tone returning. She flipped Ayako's cell phone closed and smiled as she spun around. As she expected, there were the two women at the end of the hall. "I don't need constant supervision," She nodded to herself, starting toward them. "I am perfectly able to be by myself."

She knew she wasn't about to test the theory out, but she felt better having said it anyway.

"Do you have anything?" Mai asked as she neared the two. Ayako stood with a hand on Masako's shoulder as the she buried her face into one of her long sleeved-hands. The medium's other hand was tightly gripping the stair's handrail. Ayako looked up as Mai approached.

"She just started crying," The woman said, looking lost.

"The spirit," She managed between her tears. "She's so sad."

"Masako," Mai said gently, moving up the stairs to her. "I think you've done enough," She was right in front of Masako now. She took Masako's hand in her own and began to tug at the her to urge her to follow, reaching out with her other hand to the railing for balance. "C'mon, let's go back down the stairs so you can-" As Mai's fingers curled around the cool metal of the railing, she was stunned out of her voice. She gasped as a familiar blackness clouded her vision and she was overcome with the sensation of falling. Though the feeling was more overwhelming than normal, Mai knew what was happening and desperately tried to explain to the two wide-eyed women in front of her as she drifted away. The last thing she knew before she was taken by the darkness was the sound of Ayako yelling her name and the feeling of air rushing up to meet her as she tipped backwards.

_And then she was running._

_She was sprinting as fast as she could down a darkened hallway. It was pitch black outside and the lights were off, but the illumination of the party in the distance lit her path just enough to see. See being a relative term, of course, since her tears blocked her vision too thoroughly to be able to actually make out anything in front of her. _

_Rough, heartbroken sobbing filled her ears as some sort of eerie background music as the hallway melted into two teenagers in a matching state of undress making out. The girl was pressed against the wall, into a poster advertising some sort of dance. A sad, quiet gasp dissolved the sound of sobbing, the teenagers dissolving with it._

_Suddenly she was at the edge of a flight of stairs. One of her feet hit nothing but air and her eyes widened. She twisted her body, trying to move herself away as she realized a bit too late where exactly she was. But both feet were already out from under her and the only good did was to not force herself to watch the concrete stairs come at her. A loud scream filled her ears as she felt her head crack forcefully against the stairs. Pain exploded through her head and everything went completely black for just a moment. _

_When the world blinked back to life, she was standing again. She was at the bottom of the staircase and she was confused. Her eyebrows creased as she looked at the ground in front of her feet where there lay a dead body. _Her_ dead body. Blood matted her brown hair and pooled around her head. Her dark eyes stared blankly ahead and her neck was tilted at an unnatural angle . Frowning, she bent down and tried to stroke her own pale forehead, only to have her fingers slip right through._

Mai slowly opened her eyes, as she'd grown accustomed to doing when she practiced with Lin. The first thing she noticed was her body was slumped against the bars of the stair's railing. The second thing she noticed was the violent pounding in her head. She brought a hand to touch the back of her head and, as she expected, felt the sticky warmth of her blood coat her fingers. Groaning, she brought her hands up to cradle her poor cranium.

"Mai?" Mai looked up to see Masako kneeling on the stair in front of her. She was pleased to see that the medium had recovered, though she still had red rings around her eyes. Ayako was a moderate distance away, yelling into her cell phone.

"Naru, she _fainted_. She fainted and nearly fell down the stairs..._no I don't know what happened_!" Mai flinched a little at the high pitch the miko's shriek had gotten to.

"I'm fine," She said to Masako's unanswered question. "My head's just killing me."

Masako helped her to her feet (though she denied needing assistance) and together they walked down the stairs. Ayako was currently facing away from them, glaring at the wall. She turned when she heard footsteps approaching. "You're awake!" She exclaimed, rushing over and grasping Mai firmly by the shoulders. "What happened?"

"I read the stairs," Mai said, explaining the best she could. One of her hands was still rubbing comforting circles on the side of her head. "I tried to tell you, but..."

"That's okay," Ayako sighed, hugging Mai to her. "You just really scared us. You fell backward without any warning. We're lucky we caught you."

"I didn't hit the ground?" Mai asked, looking up.

"No," Masako shook her head. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," She bit her lip as she thought about how she'd have to explain to Naru and Lin how she'd been hurt while dreaming again.

"Mai," Speaking of which...

"Naru?" Mai turned herself in Ayako's grip to see Naru slowing from a jog to a walk. "Why are you here?"

"One hour," He disregarded her question as he came closer. He held up a finger and spoke sternly. "We have not been here more than one singular hour, and you injure yourself."

She broke away from the older woman's embrace and put one of her hands on her hip, using the other to point at him. Doing her best to ignore her pain she said, "How are you so sure that I hurt myself?"

Naru stopped a couple feet away from her and glared. "You have blood on your fingers, Mai."

She faltered and looked at her hand. "What?" Ayako screeched, storming over and grabbing her hand. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Mai at least had the decency to look a little ashamed. "It's only a bump," She felt the back of her head again. "And it's stopped bleeding for the most part anyway."

"_You have a _head_ injury_?" Even Naru winced that time.

"Miss Matsuzaki, I feel the need to remind you that it is six in the evening," Naru said harshly. "There are night classes still in progress and I'm sure they'd thank you to not disturb them."

"But she-" Ayako started, shaking Mai's arm at him.

"Will be taken care of and, assuredly, reprimanded in base where we won't disrupt any more students," Naru turned his glare to Mai and stretched an arm out to her.

"Naru, it's just a..." As the intensity of Naru's glare increased, Mai realized her head hurt too much for it to really be worth it to argue with him. She sighed. "Okay."

For the first time, Mai was completely cooperative as her boss wrapped one arm around her upper torso and the other under her legs. Picking her up, he nodded. "Good. Miss Matsuzaki, do you have your first aid kit in the building?"

"No, I thought it would be longer before we needed it," Ayako ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. Mai huffed at this and crossed her arms.

"Get it and meet us back at base," He instructed before glancing over his shoulder at Masako. "Miss Hara, you'll be going with us," She nodded in understanding. "Mai, stop pouting," She glared, but uncrossed her arms nonetheless.

As Ayako headed for the entrance, Naru, Mai, and Masako headed back to base. Masako walked a considerable distance behind the two, for some reason Mai couldn't quite place. She suspected she didn't want to know anyway, so she didn't ask.

The brunette yawned slightly and rubbed her eyes. She was already getting tired and there were still a few hours until it was time for bed. Idly she wondered how one person could get so much sleep and still be tired when Naru broke her from her thoughts. "Don't fall asleep," He spoke to her softly. "You could have a concussion."

Mai shook head- slowly as to not invoke her headache's wrath. "Okay, but it's just a little bump Naru, it's fine," She replied in an equally quiet voice.

Naru rolled his eyes. "Mai, you have an open wound on the back of your head. Don't fall asleep."

"I won't," She insisted. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him smirk suddenly.

"Do you promise?"

"Sure," She spoke slowly, unsure what made him so amused.

"Say that you promise."

Mai groaned in realization. "Are you serious, Naru?"

"Say it or I'll tell Takigawa," She snorted in a rather unladylike fashion.

"Jeez, I promise I won't fall asleep," She used the arm she had wrapped around his neck to give her leverage to readjust herself from the progressively more uncomfortable position. "Retribution isn't a pretty color for you, by the way."

He just kept smirking. "I can live with that."

**Okay, we left it off on a pretty happy little note! Naru, being a teasey little cutie. Hehe. RIGHT! So, **_I have the next chapter written out already_** because of my computer problems. I think I'll give it **_2 or 3 days before I post it_**, though, **_so you guys can tell me if I wrote something really bad_** and I have time to alter it. Sound good? Thank you everyone who's continued to read through my general bullshit! **_I love you all so much_**, even if you don't review! Thanks so much!**


End file.
